


One Day This Will All Be Fields.

by raccodactyl



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Feels, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 03:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19899091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raccodactyl/pseuds/raccodactyl
Summary: “I’m-,” he was cut off by more coughs, “Y/N… I- I’m dyin’.”





	One Day This Will All Be Fields.

**Author's Note:**

> My brain thought of an emo drabble while I was in the middle of writing my other stuff. Not proofread so just deal w it. Thanks dolls

Gunshots rang out in the distance, hitting against the cliffside and chipping off pebbles along with them. Shouts of angry men in uniform followed after a pair of horses past the cliffs behind camp, the pale Arabian you recognized as being Dutch’s, and of course, Micah was in tow. You ran up the cliffs and called out his name over and over again, but only the sound of his hacking cough could be heard over the drifting commotion. 

“Arthur,” you called out when you finally reached his spot on the ledge. “What the hell is goin’ on?”

He met your eyes and collapsed to his knees, grabbing at his aching ribs. You hastily caught him before he could go down completely. You pulled him between your legs, letting his head fall back on your shoulder. 

“Are you hurt? Were you shot,” you asked frantically, “Talk to me, Arthur, please,” you practically sobbed. 

“I’m-,” he was cut off by more coughs, “Y/N… I- I’m dyin’.”

“Fuck,” you cursed under your breath. 

His hand shook as it reached up to meet your face, caressing your cheek and pulling you in close. “Please don’t cry sweetheart,” he panted. “Pl-ease don’t cry.”

You took in a deep breath and tightened your grip around him, pressing kisses to the side of his head as you tried to keep yourself contained. 

“I love you,” he said, “To the end of days… forever. Never doubt that,” he coughed. “Just promise me you’ll make it outta here. A better life for you. My boy, my sweet boy… it’s gonna be alright.” 

“It’s all for you,” you sniffled, “Everything I do. Love you forever.”

He used every bit of strength he had to pull himself up closer to you. His hands, busted and rough, traced over your face, taking in every single contour and memorizing the feeling the best he could. He pressed a long kiss to the side of your mouth and let his beard scrape against your cheek. You chased the feeling as he pulled away and he let his cheek stay pressed to yours as he fell back against your chest. 

“The sun’s rising, darlin’,” he whispered. “Looks almost half as pretty as you.”

He let out a deep, raggedy breath, and in a moment, his strong body went limp in your arms. You clutched him tighter and let the tears you had been holding back fall. The finality of it all began to set it as you slowly realized that he’d never be able to say another word to you again. No more morning notes and no more flowers by your bedside. No more deep talks late into the night and no more quips to brighten your days. He was gone, body only an empty vessel for a soul and consciousness that left for another world, hopefully kinder than this one. 

Arthur never talked about the possibility of him dying, but as he grew worse, you knew there was a chance, and as the sickness continued to overtake him, he knew it was inevitable. He was the strongest man you ever knew, wise beyond his years but still managed to be a dumbass half the time. He was everything you wanted and everything you didn’t even know you needed; the best thing to ever happen to you. 

You took off your vest from under your coat and folded it before sliding out from underneath him. You placed the vest under his head as a makeshift pillow and eased him down onto it. You wiped the tears from your eyes and tried to keep yourself as collected as possible. Just the sight of him hurt, but you didn’t want this to be the way you remembered him. You took your hat off and placed it on his chest, “I’ll be right back.”

You walked up the mountain and found an abandoned campsite. After digging around a bit, you found some nails and a few planks of wood lying around on the ground and a few feet away, a rusted shovel. With haste, you made your way back to where he was. You sat next to him and did your best to build a proper marker. You spoke to him as you worked, getting out everything you could wish to say and more. You begged him to come back, but you knew he couldn’t, no matter how bad he wanted to. You’d see him again, but not for a long time. 

You carved every letter of his name into the board and the best quote you knew of along with it. You hammered them together with another piece of wood and did your best to keep from sobbing. 

You brought out the shovel and focused your energy into digging into the earth not far from where he was. You were without sleep and your body was heavy with fatigue, but the adrenaline kept you going. 

“For him,” you repeated to yourself over and over again, “This is for him.”

After an hour or so or grueling work, you were satisfied with the depth of the grave. The sun stood behind the clouds but the ground warmed a bit nonetheless. The whipped winds calmed into a breeze and the birds began to chirp, a sound all too happy for the day that it was. 

You brushed the sweat from your brow and went back to Arthur on the cliffside. He looked peaceful, unfortunately so. You had known this day was coming, but nothing could have prepared you for the blow that it was. You sat down next to him and just looked out to the fields and forests below. Tears began to fall from your eyes and you did your best to keep your gaze from him, only wishing to remember him as he was, not a limp, cooling body on the side of a mountain. 

“I wish I could be mad at you,” you said, if only to yourself. “I hate that you’re gone. It doesn’t feel real. Shit, I- I wanted better for us but I’m so goddamn proud of you. I just- I don’t know where to go from here. I know it’ll come together, but hell, I feel helpless without you I’m scared of what the future holds but… I’m glad this chapter is over. I’m glad those cowards ran off and I’m glad you don’t gotta deal with it anymore. I just wish I could go back and get us out of there earlier. I… miss you, Arthur. I love you and I  _ miss _ you. You’re my only, I can promise you that. There will never be another like you, and I don’t want to see someone try to be that. If I know anything, I know you got a pack of smokes in your pocket and I can feel it calling me.”

You turned to him and with a bit of guilt, you dug into his inside breast pocket. You found the familiar box, but with it, you felt a sheet of paper. A bittersweet curiosity peaked and you pulled the note out. You quickly lit a cigarette and let it dangle from your lip as you gripped the paper in your hands. You could tell he tore it from his journal based on the shredded side and yellowness of the thing. You unfolded it and looked it over, a tear falling from your eyes as soon as you saw the header. 

_ Hey cowboy-- _

_ You know, I never wanted to write you something like this but here we are. I don’t know how this is going to go, but knowing my luck, I knew I needed to write this in case I’m right in my thoughts. I’m going, I know that. I don’t want to think about that, though. All I can think about is that I don’t think I ever told you that I loved you enough. If it weren’t for you, hell, I don’t think I’d live on this long. I hope you know that you own my heart fully, without a doubt, not an inch of it otherwise. I hope you know that I wanted better for us. I wanted us to have that, but it’s late now.  _

_ I want you to do better. Find yourself a little place like I always said we would and get yourself a hound like you always said. You’re the strongest man I know, you’re gonna do just fine without me. I know it’s gonna hurt, but I know you’re gonna be okay.  _

_ I don’t know what happens when we go, but I do hope to see you again.  _

_ With all my love, _

_ Your bear. _


End file.
